Peoples of the Crimean Khanate in the 16th century. Crimean Khanate: geographical location, rulers, capitals

Bakhchisaray is a small town between Simferopol and Sevastopol. Capital of the Crimean Khanate. The name of the city is translated from Crimean Tatar as “garden-palace”.

The legend of the origin of Bakhchisarai
One day the son of Khan Mengli-Girey went hunting. He descended from the fortress into the valley. Immediately behind the fortress walls, dense forests full of game began. It turned out to be a good day for hunting; many foxes, hares and even three wild goats were hunted down by hounds and greyhounds. The khan's son wanted to be alone. He sent his servants with the loot to the fortress, climbed into the thicket himself, jumped off his horse and sat down on a stump near the Churuk-Su river. The tops of the trees, gilded by the setting Sun, were reflected in the streams of water. Only the sound of the river running over the stones broke the silence. Suddenly a rustling was heard on the other side of the Churuk-Su. A snake quickly crawled out of the coastal bushes. She was being pursued by another. Started mortal combat. Having entwined one another, the snakes tore pieces of each other's body with sharp teeth. The fight lasted a long time. One snake, all bitten and exhausted, stopped resisting and lowered its head lifelessly. And from the thicket through the thick grass a third snake hurried towards the battlefield. She attacked the winner and a new bloody battle began. Rings of snake bodies flashed in the grass, illuminated by the sun, it was impossible to keep track of where one was and where the other. In the excitement of the fight, the snakes crawled away from the shore and disappeared behind a wall of bushes. An angry hissing and cracking of branches could be heard from there. The Khan's son did not take his eyes off the defeated snake. He thought about his father, about his family. They are now like this half-dead snake. The same bitten ones fled to the fortress and sit in it, trembling for their lives. Somewhere there is a battle, and who will win in it: the Golden Horde - the Turks or the Turks - the Golden Horde? But he and his father, Mengli-Girey, will no longer rise like this snake... Some time passed. The young khan noticed that the snake began to move and was trying to raise its head. She succeeded with difficulty. Slowly she crawled towards the water. Using the rest of her strength, she approached the river and plunged into it. Wriggling faster and faster, the half-dead creature acquired flexibility in its movements. When she crawled ashore, there weren’t even any traces of her wounds left on her. Then the snake plunged into the water again, quickly swam across the river and, not far from the astonished man, disappeared into the bushes. The son of Mengli-Girey rejoiced. This is a lucky sign! They are destined to rise! They still live, like this snake... He jumped on his horse and rushed to the fortress. He told his father what he saw by the river. They began to wait for news from the battlefield. And the long-awaited news came: the Ottoman Porte defeated the Horde Khan Ahmed, who once exterminated all the warriors of Giray, and drove him into a fortress on a steep cliff. On the spot where two snakes fought in a mortal battle, the old khan ordered a palace to be built. This is how Bakhchisaray arose. The khan ordered two snakes intertwined in a fight to be carved on the palace coat of arms.

In this small town rich history, the surrounding area of ​​the city is simply a treasure for archaeologists due to the large number of monuments from different eras.
Neanderthal sites have been discovered in Staroselye. There are Cro-Magnon sites about 40 thousand years old - Kachinsky canopy, Suren, etc. Monuments of the Copper-Stone Age (III millennium BC) include menhirs and anthropomorphic steles, rock paintings of Tash-Air. At the end of the last era, the Tauri lived in the mountains, and in the steppe there were several Scythian settlements that were part of the Late Scythian state. Under the onslaught of the Sarmatians, Goths, and then the Huns, it weakens and finally ceases to exist in the 3rd century AD. The Scythian population gradually leaves their settlements in the steppe and goes to mountainous Taurica, merging with the Taurians. Some of the Goths settled in the local mountains with the Sarmatians (Alans). The Romans were also here. Their small fortress on the site of the Late Scythian fortification of Alma-Kermen (the village of Zavetnoye) appeared in the 2nd century. But it didn't last long.

During the period V-VI centuries. Large settlements and fortresses arise here. Now they are known under the general name “cave cities”, because the above-ground buildings have largely collapsed, but the auxiliary buildings carved into the rocks (defensive, religious, economic) have been preserved. These fortified cities were built by local residents during the period of existence real threat invasions of nomads (Huns, Turks) and served to protect and shelter the population from these raids. Byzantium, whose sphere of political interests included southwestern Taurica, was also interested in the construction of “cave cities.”
A little later (8th–9th centuries), icon worshipers who fled from Byzantium founded a number of cave monasteries here. During this period, almost the entire region was captured by the Khazars.
By the 11th century, Byzantine influence was restored here. By this time, in southwestern Taurica it had already formed from the descendants different nations a single ethnic community that has adopted Greek, Orthodox Christian faith who adopted Byzantine culture. They were called Crimean Greeks. Here, individual Christian principalities began to gain strength. The largest of them were the Principality of Theodoro with its center in Mangup and the Kyrk-Orsk Principality with its center in Chufut-Kale.
In the 13th century, Tatars began to settle in Taurica, and from the beginning of the 14th century they gradually seized lands in the southwestern part of Crimea. The first Tatar settlement in the southwest of the peninsula was Eski-Yurt (the area of ​​the current railway station in Bakhchisarai).
By the middle of the 15th century, when Golden Horde weakened significantly, formed Crimean Khanate, whose first khan was Hadji-Devlet-Girey, grandson of Tokhtamysh. He became the founder of the Girey dynasty, which ruled Crimea for the next 350 years. At the beginning of the 16th century, Bakhchisarai became the capital of the Khanate. Here, in addition to the Khan's palace, mosques, durbes (mausoleums) of noble Tatars, residential buildings and other buildings were erected. The city became not only the administrative, but also the cultural and economic center of the Khanate. Up to 25 thousand people lived in it. In addition to the Tatars, Greeks, Karaites, and Armenians lived here.
After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, Bakhchisarai loses its importance and becomes a provincial town in Simferopol district. During the Great Patriotic War the forests of southwestern Crimea have become one of the centers partisan movement on the peninsula. After the liberation of Crimea, all Crimean Tatars were evicted to the eastern regions of the country. On the night of May 18, 1944, the deportation began and was completed in two days. On June 15, 1944, the fate of the Crimean Tatars was shared by the Crimean Greeks, Bulgarians and Armenians. Many villages in the Bakhchisarai region became depopulated. Only in the nineties of the last century did Crimean Tatars begin to return to Bakhchisarai, giving the city a certain oriental flavor.
Now Bakhchisaray is a small town with an oriental flavor, narrow crooked streets, many Tatar cafes with ottomans and sofas. The city is home to Crimean Tatars, Russians, Karaites, and Armenians. Muslim ezans can be heard, and Russian flags immediately flutter over the houses.
Main historical monument and the tourist attraction of Bakhchisaray is the palace of the Crimean khans - Khansaray. The Fountain of Tears in the Khan's Palace was glorified in A. S. Pushkin's romantic poem “The Bakhchisarai Fountain” (1822). There are many mosques in the city, among them Takhtali-Jami can be distinguished. Near the city there are also the Holy Dormition Monastery and the medieval fortress Chufut-Kale.

Capitals of the Khanate

The main city of the Crimean Yurt was the city of Kyrym, also known as Solkhat (modern Old Crimea), which became the capital of Khan Oran-Timur in 1266. According to the most common version, the name Kyrym comes from Chagatai qırım- pit, trench, there is also an opinion that it comes from the Western Kipchak qırım- “my hill” ( qır- hill, hill, -ım- affix of belonging to the first person singular).

When a state independent from the Horde was formed in Crimea, the capital was moved to the fortified mountain fortress of Kyrk-Era, then to Salachik, located in the valley at the foot of Kyrk-Era, and finally, in 1532, to the newly built city of Bakhchisarai.

Story

Background

During the Horde period supreme rulers Crimea was khans of the Golden Horde, but direct control was carried out by their governors - emirs. The first formally recognized ruler in Crimea is considered to be Aran-Timur, the nephew of Batu, who received this region from Mengu-Timur. This name then gradually spread to the entire peninsula. The second center of Crimea was the valley adjacent to Kyrk-Eru and Bakhchisarai.

The multinational population of Crimea then consisted mainly of the Kipchaks (Cumans) who lived in the steppe and foothills of the peninsula, whose state was defeated by the Mongols, Greeks, Goths, Alans, and Armenians, who lived mainly in cities and mountain villages, as well as Rusyns who lived in some trading cities. The Crimean nobility was mainly of mixed Kipchak-Mongol origin.

Horde rule, although it had positive aspects, in general it was painful for Crimean population. In particular, the rulers of the Golden Horde repeatedly organized punitive campaigns in the Crimea, when local population refused to pay tribute. Nogai's campaign in 1299 is known, as a result of which a number of Crimean cities suffered. As in other regions of the Horde, separatist tendencies soon began to appear in Crimea.

There are unconfirmed Crimean sources legends that in the 14th century Crimea was allegedly repeatedly ravaged by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd defeated the Tatar army in 1363 near the mouth of the Dnieper, and then allegedly invaded Crimea, devastated Chersonesus and captured all valuable church objects there. A similar legend exists about his successor named Vytautas, who in 1397 allegedly reached Kaffa itself in the Crimean campaign and again destroyed Chersonesus. Vytautas in Crimean history is also known for the fact that during the Horde turmoil at the end of the 14th century, he provided refuge in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to a significant number of Tatars and Karaites, whose descendants now live in Lithuania and the Grodno region of Belarus. In 1399, Vitovt, who came to the aid of the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, was defeated on the banks of the Vorskla by Tokhtamysh's rival Timur-Kutluk, on whose behalf the Horde was ruled by Emir Edigei, and made peace.

Gaining independence

Vassalage to the Ottoman Empire

Wars with the Russian Kingdom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early period

Since the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on the Russian Kingdom and Poland. The Crimean Tatars and Nogais were fluent in raid tactics, choosing a path along watersheds. The main route to Moscow was the Muravsky Way, which ran from Perekop to Tula between the upper reaches of the rivers of two basins, the Dnieper and the Seversky Donets. Having gone 100-200 kilometers into the border region, the Tatars turned back and, spreading wide wings from the main detachment, engaged in robbery and the capture of slaves. The capture of captives - yasyr - and the trade in slaves were an important part of the economy of the Khanate. Captives were sold to Turkey, the Middle East and even European countries. The Crimean city of Kafa was the main slave market. According to some researchers, more than three million people, mostly Ukrainians, Poles and Russians, were sold in the Crimean slave markets over two centuries. Every year, Moscow gathered up to 65 thousand warriors in the spring to carry out border service on the banks of the Oka until late autumn. To protect the country, fortified defensive lines were used, consisting of a chain of forts and cities, ambushes and rubble. In the southeast, the oldest of these lines ran along the Oka from Nizhny Novgorod to Serpukhov, from here it turned south to Tula and continued to Kozelsk. The second line, built under Ivan the Terrible, ran from the city of Alatyr through Shatsk to Orel, continued to Novgorod-Seversky and turned to Putivl. Under Tsar Fedor, a third line arose, passing through the cities of Livny, Yelets, Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod. The initial population of these cities consisted of Cossacks, Streltsy and other service people. Large quantity Cossacks and service people were part of the guard and village services, which monitored the movement of the Crimeans and Nogais in the steppe.

In Crimea itself, the Tatars left little yasyr. According to the ancient Crimean custom, slaves were released as freedmen after 5-6 years of captivity - there is a number of evidence from Russian and Ukrainian documents about returnees from Perekop who “worked out”. Some of those released preferred to remain in Crimea. There is a well-known case, described by the Ukrainian historian Dmitry Yavornitsky, when the ataman of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, Ivan Sirko, who attacked Crimea in 1675, captured huge booty, including about seven thousand Christian captives and freedmen. The ataman asked them whether they wanted to go with the Cossacks to their homeland or return to Crimea. Three thousand expressed a desire to stay and Sirko ordered to kill them. Those who changed their faith while in slavery were released immediately, since Sharia law prohibits holding a Muslim in captivity. According to Russian historian Valeria Vozgrin, slavery in Crimea itself almost completely disappeared in the 16th-17th centuries. Most of the prisoners captured during attacks on their northern neighbors (their peak intensity occurred in the 16th century) were sold to Turkey, where slave labor was widely used, mainly in galleys and in construction work.

XVII - early XVIII centuries

January 6-12, 1711 Crimean army married Perekop. Mehmed Giray with 40 thousand Crimeans, accompanied by 7-8 thousand Orlik and Cossacks, 3-5 thousand Poles, 400 Janissaries and 700 Swedes of Colonel Zulich, headed to Kyiv.

During the first half of February 1711, the Crimeans easily captured Bratslav, Boguslav, Nemirov, the few garrisons of which offered virtually no resistance.

In the summer of 1711, when Peter I with an army of 80 thousand went on the Prut campaign, the Crimean cavalry numbering 70 thousand sabers together with Turkish army surrounded Peter's troops, who found themselves in a hopeless situation. Peter I himself was almost captured and was forced to sign a peace treaty on conditions that were extremely unfavorable for Russia. As a result of the Treaty of Prut, Russia lost access to the Sea of ​​Azov and its fleet in the Azov-Black Sea waters. As a result of the Prut victory of the united Turkish-Crimean wars Russian expansion in the Black Sea region was stopped for a quarter of a century.

The Russian-Turkish War of 1735-39 and the complete devastation of Crimea

The last khans and the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire

After the withdrawal of Russian troops, a widespread uprising occurred in Crimea. Turkish troops landed in Alushta; the Russian resident in Crimea, Veselitsky, was captured by Khan Shahin and handed over to the Turkish commander-in-chief. There were attacks on Russian troops in Alushta, Yalta and other places. The Crimeans elected Devlet IV as khan. At this time, the text of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty was received from Constantinople. But the Crimeans even now did not want to accept independence and cede the indicated cities in Crimea to the Russians, and the Porte considered it necessary to enter into new negotiations with Russia. Dolgorukov's successor, Prince Prozorovsky, negotiated with the khan in the most conciliatory tone, but the Murzas and ordinary Crimeans did not hide their sympathies for the Ottoman Empire. Shahin Geray had few supporters. The Russian party in Crimea was small. But in Kuban he was proclaimed khan, and in 1776 he finally became khan of Crimea and entered Bakhchisarai. The people swore allegiance to him.

Shahin Giray became the last Khan of Crimea. He tried to carry out reforms in the state and reorganize governance along European lines, but these measures were extremely late. Soon after his accession, an uprising against the Russian presence began. The Crimeans attacked Russian troops everywhere, killing up to 900 Russians, and plundered the palace. Shahin was embarrassed, made various promises, but was overthrown, and Bahadir II Giray was elected khan. Türkiye was preparing to send a fleet to the shores of Crimea and start a new war. The uprising was decisively suppressed by Russian troops, Shahin Giray mercilessly punished his opponents. A.V. Suvorov was appointed Prozorovsky’s successor as commander of the Russian troops in Crimea, but the khan was very wary of the new Russian adviser, especially after he deported all Crimean Christians (about 30,000 people) to the Azov region in 1778: Greeks - to Mariupol, Armenians - to Nor-Nakhichevan.

Only now Shahin turned to the Sultan as the caliph for a letter of blessing, and the Porte recognized him as khan, subject to the withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea. Meanwhile, in 1782, a new uprising began in Crimea, and Shahin was forced to flee to Yenikale, and from there to Kuban. Bahadir II Giray, who was not recognized by Russia, was elected khan. In 1783, Russian troops entered Crimea without warning. Soon Shahin Giray abdicated the throne. He was asked to choose a city in Russia for residence and was given a sum for his relocation with a small retinue and maintenance. He lived first in Voronezh, and then in Kaluga, from where, at his request and with the consent of the Porte, he was released to Turkey and settled on the island of Rhodes, where he was deprived of his life.

There were “small” and “large” divans, which played a very serious role in the life of the state.

A council was called a “small divan” if a narrow circle of nobility took part in it, resolving issues that required urgent and specific decisions.

The “Big Divan” is a meeting of “the whole earth”, when all the Murzas and representatives of the “best” black people took part in it. By tradition, the Karaches retained the right to sanction the appointment of khans from the Geray clan as sultan, which was expressed in the ritual of placing them on the throne in Bakhchisarai.

The state structure of Crimea largely used the Golden Horde and Ottoman structures state power. Most often the highest government positions were occupied by the sons, brothers of the khan or other persons of noble origin.

The first official after the khan was the Kalga Sultan. Appointed to this position younger brother khan or his other relative. Kalga ruled the eastern part of the peninsula, the left wing of the khan's army and administered the state in the event of the death of the khan until a new one was appointed to the throne. He was also the commander-in-chief if the khan did not personally go to war. The second position - nureddin - was also occupied by a member of the khan's family. He was the manager of the western part of the peninsula, chairman of small and local courts, commanded smaller corps of the right wing on campaigns.

The mufti is the head of the Muslim clergy of Crimea, an interpreter of laws, who has the right to remove judges - qadis, if they judged incorrectly.

Kaimakany - in late period (late XVIII c.) managers of the regions of the Khanate. Or-bey is the head of the Or-Kapy (Perekop) fortress. Most often, this position was occupied by members of the khan family, or a member of the Shirin family. He guarded the borders and watched over the Nogai hordes outside the Crimea. The positions of qadi, vizier and other ministers are similar to the same positions in the Ottoman state.

In addition to the above, there were two important female positions: ana-beim (analogous to the Ottoman post of valide), which was held by the mother or sister of the khan and ulu-beim (ulu-sultani), the eldest wife ruling khan. In terms of importance and role in the state, they had the rank next to nureddin.

An important phenomenon in state life Crimea had a very strong independence of noble bey families, which in some ways brought Crimea closer to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The beys ruled their possessions (beyliks) as semi-independent states, administered justice themselves and had their own militia. The beys regularly took part in riots and conspiracies, both against the khan and among themselves, and often wrote denunciations against the khans they did not please the Ottoman government in Istanbul.

Social life

The state religion of Crimea was Islam, and in the customs of the Nogai tribes there were some vestiges of shamanism. Along with the Crimean Tatars and Nogais, Islam was also practiced by the Turks and Circassians living in Crimea.

The permanent non-Muslim population of Crimea was represented by Christians of various denominations: Orthodox (Hellenic-speaking and Turkic-speaking Greeks), Gregorians (Armenians), Armenian Catholics, Roman Catholics (descendants of the Genoese), as well as Jews and Karaites.

Notes

1. Budagov. Comparative dictionary of Turkish-Tatar dialects, T.2, p.51
2. O. Gaivoronsky. Lords of two continents.t.1.Kiev-Bakhchisarai. Oranta.2007
3. Thunmann. "Crimean Khanate"
4. Sigismund Herberstein, Notes on Muscovy, Moscow 1988, p. 175
5. Yavornitsky D.I. History of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. Kyiv, 1990.
6. V. E. Syroechkovsky, Muhammad-Gerai and his vassals, “Scientific notes of the Moscow state university", vol. 61, 1940, p. 16.

Crimean Khanate, Crimean Khanate 1783
vassal of the Ottoman Empire
(from 1478 to 1774)

Crimean Khanate(Crimea: Qırım Hanlığı, قريم خانلغى‎) - the state of the Crimean Tatars, which existed from 1441 to 1783. Self-name - Crimean yurt (Crimea: Qırım Yurtu, قريم يورتى‎). In addition to the steppe and foothills of the Crimea proper, it occupied the lands between the Danube and the Dnieper, the Azov region and most of the modern Krasnodar region Russia. In 1478, after the Ottoman military expedition to Crimea, the Crimean Khanate became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. After Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774, under the terms of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace of 1774, Crimea became independent state under the protectorate of the Russian Empire, while the spiritual authority of the Sultan as the head of the Muslims (caliph) over the Crimean Tatars was recognized. In 1783, the Crimean Khanate was annexed by the Russian Empire. Annexation was recognized Ottoman Empire after the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791.

• 1 Capitals of the Khanate
• 2 History
  • 2.1 Background
  • 2.2 Gaining independence
  • 2.3 Vassalage to the Ottoman Empire
  • 2.4 Wars with the Russian Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early period
  • 2.5 XVII - beginning of XVIII century
  • 2.6 Attempted alliance with Charles XII and Mazepa
  • 2.7 Russian-Turkish War of 1735-39 and the complete devastation of Crimea
  • 2.8 Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774 and the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace
  • 2.9 The last khans and the conquest of Crimea by the Russian Empire
• 3 Maps of lands in history
• 4 Geography
• 5 Army
• 6 State structure
• 7 Social life
• 8 Links
• 9 See also
• 10 Notes
• 11 Literature

Capitals of the Khanate

The main city of the Crimean Yurt was the city of Kyrym, also known as Solkhat (modern Old Crimea), which became the capital of Khan Oran-Timur in 1266. According to the most common version, the name Kyrym comes from the Chagatai qırım - pit, trench; there is also an opinion that it comes from the Western Kipchak qırım - “my hill” (qır - hill, hill, -ım - affix of the first person singular).

When a state independent from the Horde was formed in Crimea, the capital was moved to the fortified mountain fortress of Kyrk-Era, then to Salachik, located in the valley at the foot of Kyrk-Era, and finally, in 1532, to the newly built city of Bakhchisarai.

Story

Background

The first appearance of the Mongols in Crimea dates back to 1223, when the commanders Jebe and Subetey invaded the peninsula and captured Sudak, defeating the Russian-Polovtsian coalition (according to Ibn al-Asir): “many of the noble merchants and rich Russians” fled overseas to Muslim countries , saving your property and goods. In 1237, the Mongols defeated and subjugated the Polovtsians. Soon after these campaigns, the entire steppe and foothill Crimea became the possession of the Ulus of Jochi, known as the Golden Horde. However, virtually independent Genoese trading posts arose on the coast, with which the Tatars maintained trade relations.

During the Horde period, the supreme rulers of Crimea were the khans of the Golden Horde, but direct control was exercised by their governors - the emirs. The first formally recognized ruler in Crimea is considered to be Aran-Timur, Batu’s nephew, who received this region from Mengu-Timur. This name then gradually spread to the entire peninsula. The second center of Crimea was the valley adjacent to Kyrk-Eru and Bakhchisarai.

The multinational population of Crimea then consisted mainly of Kypchaks (Cumans), Greeks, Goths, Alans, and Armenians living mainly in cities and mountain villages who lived in the steppe and foothills of the peninsula. The Crimean nobility was mainly of mixed Kipchak-Mongol origin.

Horde rule, although it had positive aspects, was generally burdensome for the Crimean population. The rulers of the Golden Horde repeatedly organized punitive campaigns in Crimea when the local population refused to pay tribute. Nogai’s campaign in 1299 is known, as a result of which a number of Crimean cities suffered. As in other regions of the Horde, separatist tendencies soon began to appear in Crimea.

There are legends, unconfirmed by Crimean sources, that in the 14th century Crimea was allegedly repeatedly ravaged by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd defeated the Tatar army in 1363 near the mouth of the Dnieper, and then allegedly invaded Crimea, devastated Chersonesus and captured all valuable church objects there. A similar legend exists about his successor named Vytautas, who in 1397 allegedly reached Kaffa itself in the Crimean campaign and again destroyed Chersonesos. Vytautas is also known in Crimean history for the fact that during the Horde turmoil of the late 14th century he provided refuge in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to a significant number of Tatars and Karaites, whose descendants now live in Lithuania and Grodno region Belarus. In 1399, Vitovt, who came to the aid of the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, was defeated on the banks of the Vorskla by Tokhtamysh’s rival Timur-Kutluk, on whose behalf the Horde was ruled by Emir Edigei, and made peace.

Gaining independence

By the beginning of the 15th century, the Crimean Yurt had already become very isolated from the Golden Horde and had noticeably strengthened. its composition included, in addition to the steppe and foothills of Crimea, part of the mountainous part of the peninsula and vast territories on the continent. After the death of Edigei in 1420, the Horde effectively lost control over Crimea. After this, a fierce struggle for power began in Crimea, from which the first khan of independent Crimea and the founder of the Giray dynasty, Hadji I Giray, emerged victorious. In 1427 he declared himself ruler of the Crimean Khanate. In 1441, with the support of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the local Crimean nobility, he was elected khan and enthroned. By the middle of the 15th century, the Golden Horde period in the history of Crimea was finally completed. The long-term desire of the Crimeans for independence was crowned with success, and the Golden Horde, shaken by unrest, could no longer offer serious resistance. Soon after the fall of Crimea, the Bulgar also separated from it ( Khanate of Kazan), and then one after another Astrakhan and Nogai Horde.

Vassalage to the Ottoman Empire

Taking the throne in 1441, Haji I Giray reigned until his death in 1466.

In the fall of 1480, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III turned through his ambassador in Crimea to the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray with a request to organize a campaign in the Polish lands “to the Kyiv places.” Mengli Giray took Kyiv by storm, plundered and greatly destroyed the city. From the rich booty, the khan sent Ivan III a golden chalice and paten from the Kyiv St. Sophia Cathedral in gratitude. In 1480, Ivan III entered into an alliance with this khan, which lasted until his death. Ivan III patronized trade, and for this purpose he especially maintained relations with Kafa and Azov.

In 1475, the Ottoman Empire conquered the Genoese colonies and the last bastion of the Byzantine Empire - the Principality of Theodoro, inhabited by Orthodox Christians (Greeks, Alans, Goths, etc.), numbering up to 200 thousand people, who over the next three centuries mostly(especially on the south coast) converted to Islam. These territories, which covered most of the Mountainous Crimea, as well as a number of large cities and fortresses of the Black Sea region, the Azov region and the Kuban, became part of the Turkish possessions, were controlled by the Sultan’s administration and were not subordinate to the khans. The Ottomans maintained their garrisons and bureaucrats in them and strictly collected taxes from the lands under their control. Since 1478, the Crimean Khanate officially became a vassal of the Ottoman Porte and remained in this capacity until the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace of 1774. In Ottoman terminology, vassal countries like the Crimean Khanate were called “states under protection” (Turkish: himaye altındaki devletler). The appointment, confirmation and removal of khans were usually carried out at the will of Istanbul since 1584.

Wars with the Russian Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early period

Since the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on Russian Kingdom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Crimean Tatars and Nogais were fluent in raid tactics, choosing a path along watersheds. The main route to Moscow was the Muravsky Way, which ran from Perekop to Tula between the upper reaches of the rivers of two basins, the Dnieper and Seversky Donets. Having gone 100-200 kilometers into the border region, the Tatars turned back and, spreading wide wings from the main detachment, engaged in robbery and the capture of slaves. The capture of captives - yasyr - and the trade in slaves were an important part of the economy of the Khanate. Captives were sold to Turkey, the Middle East and even European countries. The Crimean city of Kafa was the main slave market. According to some researchers, more than three million people, mainly Ukrainians, Poles and Russians. Every year Moscow gathered up to 65 thousand warriors in the spring to carry border service on the banks of the Oka until late autumn. To protect the country, fortified defensive lines were used, consisting of a chain of forts and cities, ambushes and rubble. In the southeast, the oldest of these lines ran along the Oka from Nizhny Novgorod to Serpukhov, from here it turned south to Tula and continued to Kozelsk. The second line, built under Ivan the Terrible, ran from the city of Alatyr through Shatsk to Orel, continued to Novgorod-Seversky and turned to Putivl. Under Tsar Fedor, a third line arose, passing through the cities of Livny, Yelets, Kursk, Voronezh, and Belgorod. The initial population of these cities consisted of Cossacks, archers and other service people. A large number of Cossacks and service people were part of the guard and village services, which monitored the movement of the Crimeans and Nogais in the steppe.

In Crimea itself, the Tatars left little yasyr. According to the ancient Crimean custom, slaves were released as freedmen after 5-6 years of captivity - there is a number of evidence from Russian and Polish documents about returnees from Perekop who “worked out”. Some of those released preferred to remain in Crimea. There is a well-known case, described by the Ukrainian historian Dmitry Yavornitsky, when the ataman of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, Ivan Sirko, who attacked Crimea in 1675, captured huge booty, including about seven thousand Christian captives and freedmen. The ataman asked them whether they wanted to go with the Cossacks to their homeland or return to Crimea. Three thousand expressed a desire to stay, and Sirko ordered them to be killed. Those who changed their faith while in slavery were released immediately. According to Russian historian Valery Vozgrin, slavery in Crimea itself almost completely disappeared already in the 16th-17th centuries. Most of the prisoners captured during attacks on their northern neighbors (their peak intensity occurred in the 16th century) were sold to Turkey, where slave labor was widely used, mainly in galleys and in construction work.

Khan Devlet I Giray waged constant wars with Ivan IV the Terrible, vainly seeking to restore the independence of Kazan and Astrakhan. However, when Turkey tried to organize a military campaign in the Volga region to take Astrakhan and implement the project of connecting the Volga and Don with a canal, the khan sabotaged this initiative as interference of the Ottomans in the traditional sphere of influence of the Crimean Khanate.

In May 1571, at the head of an army of 40 thousand horsemen, the khan burned Moscow, for which he received the nickname Takht Algan (“who took the throne”). During the raid on Moscow State According to many historians, several hundred thousand people died and 50,000 were captured. Ivan IV, following the example of Poland, undertook to pay an annual tribute to the Crimea - according to a list sent in advance from the family of the khan and his nobles. However, due to the devastating defeat of the khan in the Battle of Molodi, a year later, the Crimean Khanate lost a significant part of its power and was forced to renounce its claims to the Volga region. The payment of “wake” to Crimea continued until late XVII century and finally ceased only during the reign of Peter I.

XVII - early XVIII centuries

Islam III Giray (1644 − 1654) provided military assistance Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky in Liberation War with Poland.

As the Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi pointed out in 1660, the Crimean Tatars had their northern border at the Or (Perekop) castle, the steppe also belonged to the khan, but the Nogais roamed there: Adil, Shaidak, Ormit. They paid taxes for grazing herds and delivered butter, honey, cattle, sheep, lambs and yasir to the Crimea. He also reports that “the Tatars have 12 languages ​​and speak through translators.” Crimea at that time consisted of 24 kalyks; The qadi was appointed by the khan, except for four in the Kaffen eyalet, which was under the authority of the sultan. There were also “40 beyliks”, where bey meant “chief of the clan”, and the murzas were subject to him. The khan's army numbered 80,000 soldiers, of which 3,000 were “kapykulu” (plural: “kapykullary”), that is, the khan’s guard, paid by the Sultan with 12,000 gold “for boots,” and were armed with muskets.

One of the greatest and most beloved rulers of the Crimeans was Selim I Giray (Hadji Selim Giray). He occupied the throne four times (1671-1678, 1684-1691, 1692-1699, 1702-1704). in alliance with the Ottomans, he waged a successful war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and alone an unsuccessful one with Moscow; for recent failures he lost power and ended up on the island of Rhodes. During his second reign, he successfully repelled the troops of Prince Golitsyn, sent by Princess Sophia (in 1687 and in 1688-1689 (Both Russian campaigns were unsuccessful, but distracted the Crimean troops from helping the Turks in Hungary). During his third reign, Russian Tsar Peter The Great tried to establish himself on the Sea of ​​Azov: he made a campaign against Azov (1695), but this attempt was unsuccessful for him, since he did not have a fleet to take the seaside fortress; in the spring of 1696, he took Azov with a fleet built in winter (in 1711). Azov was temporarily lost to him for 25 years). In 1699, Selim I Giray renounced the throne in favor of his son. In 1702, he again took the throne at the numerous requests of the Crimeans and ruled until his death in 1704. Peter I formed a land militia and settled troops. , to protect against attacks by the Crimean Tatars.

Murad Geray (1678-1683), participating in a campaign with the Turks against the Germans, was defeated near Vienna (1683), was accused of treason against the Turkish Sultan and was deprived of the Khanate.

Haji II Giray (1683-1684) fled from Crimea from indignant dignitaries.

Saadet III Giray (1691) ruled during the 9-month renunciation of Selim I's rule.

Devlet II Giray (1699-1702 and 1709-1713) failures in actions against the Russians led to the deposition of Devlet and the election of his father for the fourth time. Removed from power for the second time on a formal matter (accused of mistreating an asylum seeker in Turkey Swedish king Charles XII).

Gazy III Giray (1704-1707) was dismissed as a result of intrigues of court groups in Istanbul, the reason was complaints from Russian ambassadors about unauthorized raids by the Kuban Nogais.

Kaplan I Giray (1707-1708, 1713-1716, 1730-1736) was removed from power for the first time after the crushing defeat of the campaign he led against Kabarda.

Attempted alliance with Charles XII and Mazepa

At the beginning of the 18th century, Crimea found itself in a rather ambiguous position. The international order established after the Treaty of Constantinople in 1700 prohibited the Crimeans from making military campaigns on the lands of Russia and Ukraine. The Sultan's divan, interested in preserving peace, was forced to limit the incursions of Crimean troops into foreign states, which caused serious objections in Crimea, expressed during the rebellion of Devlet II Giray in 1702-1703. Charles XII in the spring of 1709, on the eve of Poltava, repeatedly appealed to Devlet II with a proposal for a military-political alliance. Only thanks to the position of Turkey, which had no serious intention of fighting with Russia, and the streams of money filling the bottomless pockets of Turkish officials, Crimea maintained neutrality during the Battle of Poltava.

Finding himself after Poltava in Turkey, in Bendery, Charles XII established close contacts with Istanbul and Bakhchisarai. If the Turkish administration of Ahmed III showed serious hesitation on the issue of war, then Devlet II Giray was ready to rush into any adventure. Without waiting for the start of the war, in May 1710 he concluded a military alliance with those who were under Charles XII Mazepa's successor Philip Orlik and the Cossacks. The terms of the agreement were as follows:

1. the khan pledged to be an ally of the Cossacks, but at the same time not to take them under his protection and subordination;
2. Devlet II promised to achieve the liberation of Ukraine from Moscow rule, but he did not have the right to take prisoners and destroy Orthodox churches;
3. Khan promised to do his best to promote secession Left Bank Ukraine from Moscow and its reunification with the Right Bank into a single independent state.

On January 6-12, 1711, the Crimean army advanced beyond Perekop. Mehmed Giray with 40 thousand Crimeans, accompanied by 7-8 thousand Orlik and Cossacks, 3-5 thousand Poles, 400 Janissaries and 700 Swedes of Colonel Zulich, headed to Kyiv.

During the first half of February 1711, the Crimeans easily captured Bratslav, Boguslav, Nemirov, the few garrisons of which offered virtually no resistance.

In the summer of 1711, when Peter I with an army of 80 thousand went to Prut campaign, the Crimean cavalry numbering 70 thousand sabers, together with the Turkish army, surrounded Peter’s troops, who found themselves in a hopeless situation. Peter I himself was almost captured and was forced to sign a peace treaty on conditions that were extremely unfavorable for Russia. Under the terms of the Prut Peace, Russia lost access to the Sea of ​​Azov and its fleet in the Azov-Black Sea waters. As a result of the Prut victory of the united Turkish-Crimean troops, Russian expansion in the Black Sea region was stopped for a quarter of a century.

The Russian-Turkish War of 1735-39 and the complete devastation of Crimea

Kaplan I Giray (1707-1708, 1713-1715, 1730-1736) - the last of the great khans of Crimea. During his second reign, he was forced to take part in the war between Turkey and Persia. Promoting the installation of Augustus of Saxony on the Polish throne, the Russians took advantage of the situation and attacked Crimea under the command of H. A. Minich and P. P. Lassi (1735-1738), which led to the defeat and devastation of the entire Crimea with its capital Bakhchisarai.

In 1736, the army of H. A. Minich completely destroyed Kezlev and Bakhchisarai, the cities were burned, and all the residents who did not have time to escape were killed. After this, the army moved to the eastern part of Crimea. However, the cholera epidemic that began due to the decomposition of numerous corpses led to the death of some Russian troops, and Minich led the army beyond Perekop. Eastern Crimea was devastated during the Lassi campaign the following year. The Russian army burned Karasubazar, also killing the population of the city. 1738 it was planned new trip, but it was canceled because the army could no longer feed itself - in a completely devastated country there was simply no food and hunger reigned.

The war of 1736-38 became a national catastrophe for the Crimean Khanate. All significant cities were in ruins, the economy suffered enormous damage, there was famine in the country and a cholera epidemic was raging. A significant part of the population died.

The Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774 and the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace

Khan Kyrim Giray, during his second reign, dragged Turkey into a war with Russia, which ultimately led to the fall of the Crimean Khanate. It was very successful for Russia. The victories of Rumyantsev at Larga and Kagul, and A. Orlov at Chesma glorified Catherine throughout Europe. Russia received reason to bring to the fore the question of the existence of the Crimean Khanate, which Rumyantsev, an astute man who understood the state of affairs better than others, insisted on, but, at the request of Catherine, the fate of Crimea was so far expressed in the form of its rejection of direct dependence on the Porte.

Prince V.M. Dolgorukov, who commanded the second Russian army, entered Crimea, defeated Khan Selim III in two battles and within a month captured the entire Crimea, and captured a Turkish seraskir in Kef. Bakhchisarai lay in ruins. Dolgorukov's army devastated Crimea. A number of villages were burned and killed civilians. Khan Selim III fled to Istanbul. The Crimeans laid down their arms, bowed to the side of Russia and presented Dolgorukov with a letter of oath with the signatures of the Crimean nobility and notification of the election of Sahib II Giray to the khans, and his brother Shahin Giray to the kalgi.

On July 10, 1774, the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty was concluded, very beneficial for Russia, but also saving for Turkey. Crimea was not annexed to Russia and was recognized as independent from any outside power. In addition, the Sultan was recognized as the Supreme Caliph, and this circumstance caused difficulties and bickering between Russia and Turkey, since among Muslims, religious-ceremonial and civil-legal life are interconnected, therefore the Sultan had the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Crimea, for example, by appointing qadis (judges). Türkiye, according to the agreement, recognized Kinburn, Kerch and Yenikale as Russian possessions, as well as its freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.

The South Coast passed from the Ottoman Empire to the Crimean Khanate.

The last khans and the conquest of Crimea by the Russian Empire

After the withdrawal of Russian troops, a widespread uprising occurred in Crimea. Turkish troops landed in Alushta; the Russian resident in Crimea, Veselitsky, was captured by Khan Shahin and handed over to the Turkish commander-in-chief. There were attacks on Russian troops in Alushta, Yalta and other places. The Crimeans elected Devlet IV as khan. At this time, the text of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty was received from Constantinople. But the Crimeans even now did not want to accept independence and cede the indicated cities in Crimea to the Russians, and the Porte considered it necessary to enter into new negotiations with Russia. Dolgorukov's successor, Prince Prozorovsky, negotiated with the khan in the most conciliatory tone, but the Murzas and ordinary Crimeans did not hide their sympathies for the Ottoman Empire. Shahin Geray had few supporters. The Russian party in Crimea was small. But in Kuban he was proclaimed khan, and in 1776 he finally became khan of Crimea and entered Bakhchisarai. The people swore allegiance to him. The economic well-being of Crimea was undermined by the resettlement of most of the Crimean Christians (about 30,000 people) to the Azov region in 1778 by Prozorovsky’s successor as commander of the Russian troops in Crimea, A.V. Suvorov: Greeks to Mariupol, Armenians to Nor-Nakhichevan .

In 1776, Russia created the Dnieper Line - a series of border fortresses to protect its southern borders from the Crimean Tatars. There were only 7 fortresses - they stretched from the Dnieper to the Sea of ​​Azov.

Shahin Geray became the last Khan of Crimea. He tried to carry out reforms in the state and reorganize governance according to the European model, to equalize the rights of the Muslim and non-Muslim population of Crimea. The reforms were extremely unpopular and in 1781 led to an uprising that began in the Kuban and quickly spread to the Crimea.

By July 1782, the uprising had completely engulfed the entire peninsula, the khan was forced to flee, the officials of his administration who did not have time to escape were killed, and the khan's palace was plundered. The Crimeans everywhere attacked Russian troops (up to 900 Russians died) and the non-Crimean Tatar population of the Khanate. At the center of the uprising were Shahin's brothers, princes Bahadir Giray and Arslan Giray. Bahadir Geray. The leader of the rebels, Bahadir II Giray, was proclaimed khan. The new Crimean government asked the Ottoman and Russian empires for recognition. The first refused to recognize the new khan, and the second sent troops to suppress the uprising. Shahin Giray, who returned with the Russians, mercilessly punished his opponents.

By February 1783, the situation of Shahin Geray again became critical, the mass executions of political opponents, the hatred of the Tatars for the ongoing reforms and policies of Shahin Geray, the actual financial bankruptcy of the state, mutual distrust and misunderstanding with the Russian authorities led to the fact that Shahin Geray abdicated the throne. He was asked to choose a city in Russia for residence and was given a sum for his relocation with a small retinue and maintenance. He lived first in Voronezh, and then in Kaluga, from where, at his request and with the consent of the Porte, he was released to Turkey and settled on the island of Rhodes, where he was deprived of his life.

On April 8, 1783, the Russian Empress Catherine II issued a manifesto according to which Crimea, Taman and Kuban became Russian possessions. Thus, Crimea became part of the Russian Empire.

In 1791, according to the Treaty of Jassy Ottoman state recognized Crimea as possession of Russia.

Maps of lands in history

Polovtsy XI-XII centuries

Golden Horde 1243-1438

Crimean Khanate 1441-1783

Geography

The Crimean Khanate included lands on the continent: the territories between the Dniester and the Dnieper, the Azov region and part of the Kuban. This territory was significantly larger in area than the khanate's possessions on the peninsula. The borders of the Khanate, including the northern ones, are recorded in many Crimean, Russian and Ukrainian sources, but no special research on this issue has yet been undertaken.

Crimean khans were interested in developing trade, which provided significant profits to the treasury. Among the goods exported from Crimea are raw leather, sheep's wool, morocco, sheep's fur coats, gray and black smushkas.

The main fortress at the entrance to the peninsula was the Or fortress (known to the Russians as Perekop), which was the gateway to Crimea. The functions of protecting Crimea were performed by the cities - Fortresses of Arabat and Kerch. The main trading ports were Gezlev and Kefe. Military garrisons (mostly Turkish, partly local Greeks) were also maintained in Balaklava, Sudak, Kerch, and Kef.

Bakhchisarai was the capital of the Khanate since 1428, Akmescit (Ak-Mosque) was the residence of the Kalgi Sultan, Karasubazar was the center of the Shirinsky beys, Kefe was the residence of the governor of the Ottoman Sultan (it did not belong to the Khanate).

Army

Military activity was mandatory for both large and small feudal lords. Specifics military organization Crimean Tatars, which fundamentally distinguished it from other military affairs European peoples, called special interest the latter. Carrying out the tasks of their governments, diplomats, merchants, and travelers sought not only to establish contacts with the khans, but also tried to familiarize themselves in detail with the organization of military affairs, and often their missions had the main goal of studying the military potential of the Crimean Khanate.

For a long time, there was no regular army in the Crimean Khanate, and all the men of the steppe and foothills of the peninsula who were able to bear arms actually took part in military campaigns. From an early age, Crimeans became accustomed to all the hardships and hardships of military life, learned to wield weapons, ride horses, and endure cold, hunger, and fatigue. The Khan, his sons, and individual beys carried out raids and got involved in hostilities with their neighbors mainly only when they were confident of a successful outcome. Intelligence played a major role in the military operations of the Crimean Tatars. Special scouts went ahead in advance, found out the situation, and then became guides for the advancing army. Using the factor of surprise, when it was possible to take the enemy by surprise, they often obtained relatively easy prey. But the Crimeans almost never acted independently against regular, numerically superior troops.

The Khan's Council established a norm in accordance with which the Khan's vassals were to supply warriors. Some of the residents remained to look after the property of those who went on a campaign. These same people were supposed to arm and support the soldiers, for which they received part of the military spoils. In addition to military service, sauga was paid in favor of the khan - a fifth, and sometimes most of the booty that the Murzas brought with them after the raids. The poor people who took part in these campaigns hoped that going for loot would allow them to get rid of everyday difficulties and make their existence easier, so they relatively willingly followed their feudal lord.

In military affairs, the Crimean Tatars can distinguish two types of marching organization - a military campaign, when the Crimean army led by a khan or kalga takes part in the hostilities of the warring parties, and a predatory raid - besh-bash (five heads - a small Tatar detachment), which was carried out often by individual murzas and beys with relatively small military detachments in order to obtain booty and capture prisoners.

According to the descriptions of Guillaume de Beauplan and de Marsilly, the Crimeans were equipped quite simply - they used a light saddle, a blanket, and sometimes even covered the horse with sheep skin, and did not put on a bridle, using a rawhide belt. A whip with a short handle was also indispensable for the rider. The Crimeans were armed with a saber, a bow and a quiver with 18 or 20 arrows, a knife, a flint for making fire, an awl and 5 or 6 fathoms of belt ropes for tying captives. The favorite weapons of the Crimean Tatars were sabers made in Bakhchisarai; scimitars and daggers were taken in reserve.

Clothing on the campaign was also unpretentious: only the nobles wore chain mail, the rest went to war in sheepskin coats and fur hats, which were worn in winter with the wool inward, and in summer and during rain - with the wool outward or Yamurlakha cloaks; They wore red and sky blue shirts. At the camp they took off their shirts and slept naked, putting the saddle under their heads. We didn’t take tents with us.

There were certain tactics usually used by the Crimeans. At the beginning of the attack, they always tried to go around the enemy’s left wing in order to more conveniently release arrows. One can highlight the high skill of archery with two or even three arrows at once. Often, already put to flight, they stopped, closed ranks again, trying to envelop as closely as possible the enemy who was pursuing them and scattered in pursuit, and thus, almost defeated, snatched victory from the hands of the victors. They entered into open hostilities with the enemy only in case of their obvious numerical superiority. Battles were recognized only in the open field; they avoided sieging fortresses, since they did not have siege equipment.

It should be noted that almost exclusively residents of the steppe and partly foothill regions of Crimea and Nogais took part in military campaigns. The inhabitants of the Crimean Mountains, whose main occupation was viticulture and gardening, did not serve in the army and paid a special tax to the treasury for exemption from service.

State structure

Throughout the history of the Crimean Khanate, it was ruled by the Geraev (Gireev) dynasty. Russian-language literature dedicated to the Crimean Khanate traditionally (sometimes in parallel) uses two forms of this name: Giray and Giray. The first of these options is one of the forms of transcription of the Ottoman (and, accordingly, Crimean Tatar) spelling of this name - كراى. The author of the reading in the form of “Gerai”, apparently, was the Russian orientalist V. Grigoriev (mid-19th century). Initially, this form was used both by Russian orientalists (A. Negri, V. Grigoriev, V. D. Smirnov, etc.) and their Western European colleagues (J. von Hammer-Purgstall). modern Western European science through Turkish language The Ottoman form of pronunciation and writing of the family name of the Crimean khans - Giray - became widespread. The second, presumably Kipchak (pre-Ottoman Crimean Tatar), version is recorded in L. Budagov’s dictionary. It is widely used in the works of Russian researchers from the first half of the 19th century V. (A. Kazembek, F. Hartakhay, A. N. Samoilovich, etc.).

Khan, being the supreme landowner, owned salt lakes and villages near them, forests along the Alma, Kachi and Salgir rivers and wastelands, on which settlements of new inhabitants arose, gradually turning into a dependent population and paying tithes to him. Having the right to inherit the land of a deceased vassal, if he had no close relatives, the khan could become the heir to the beys and murzas. The same rules applied to the Bey and Murza land ownership, when the lands of poor farmers and cattle breeders passed to the Bey or Murza. From land holdings Khan allocated lands to the Kalga Sultan. The khan's possessions also included several cities - Kyrym (modern Old Crimea), Kyrk-Er (modern Chufut-Kale), Bakhchisarai.

There were “small” and “large” divans, which played a very serious role in the life of the state.

A council was called a “small divan” if a narrow circle of nobility took part in it, resolving issues that required urgent and specific decisions.

The “Big Divan” is a meeting of “the whole earth”, when all the Murzas and representatives of the “best” black people took part in it. By tradition, the Karaches retained the right to sanction the appointment of khans from the Geray clan as sultan, which was expressed in the ritual of placing them on the throne in Bakhchisarai.

The state structure of the Crimean Khanate largely used the Golden Horde and Ottoman structures of state power. Most often, the highest government positions were occupied by the sons, brothers of the khan or other persons of noble origin.

The first official after the khan was the Kalga Sultan. The khan's younger brother or another relative was appointed to this position. Kalga ruled the eastern part of the peninsula, the left wing of the khan's army and administered the state in the event of the death of the khan until a new one was appointed to the throne. He was also the commander-in-chief if the khan did not personally go to war. The second position - nureddin - was also occupied by a member of the khan's family. He was the governor of the western part of the peninsula, chairman of small and local courts, and commanded smaller corps of the right wing on campaigns.

The mufti is the head of the Muslim clergy of the Crimean Khanate, an interpreter of laws, who has the right to remove judges - qadis, if they judged incorrectly.

Kaymakans - in the late period (end of the 18th century) governing the regions of the Khanate. Or-bey is the head of the Or-Kapy (Perekop) fortress. Most often, this position was occupied by members of the khan family, or a member of the Shirin family. He guarded the borders and watched over the Nogai hordes outside the Crimea. The positions of qadi, vizier and other ministers are similar to the same positions in the Ottoman state.

In addition to the above, there were two important female positions: ana-beim (analogous to the Ottoman post of valide), which was held by the mother or sister of the khan, and ulu-beim (ulu-sultani), the senior wife of the ruling khan. In terms of importance and role in the state, they had the rank next to nureddin.

An important phenomenon in the state life of the Crimean Khanate was the very strong independence of the noble bey families, which in some way brought the Crimean Khanate closer to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The beys governed their possessions (beyliks) as semi-independent states, administered court themselves and had their own militia. The beys regularly took part in riots and conspiracies, both against the khan and among themselves, and often wrote denunciations against the khans they did not please the Ottoman government in Istanbul.

Social life

The state religion of the Crimean Khanate was Islam, and in the customs of the Nogai tribes there were some vestiges of shamanism. Along with the Crimean Tatars and Nogais, Islam was also practiced by the Turks and Circassians living in Crimea.

The permanent non-Muslim population of the Crimean Khanate was represented by Christians of various denominations: Orthodox (Hellenic-speaking and Turkic-speaking Greeks), Gregorians (Armenians), Armenian Catholics, Roman Catholics (descendants of the Genoese), as well as Jews and Karaites.

Links

• Gusterin P. On the appointment of the first Russian consul in Crimea.

See also

• List of Crimean khans
• History of the Crimean Tatars' raids on Rus'

Notes

1. Budagov. Comparative dictionary of Turkish-Tatar dialects, T. 2, p. 51
2. O. Gaivoronsky. Lords of two continents. vol. 1. Kyiv-Bakhchisarai. Oranta. 2007
3. I. Thunmann. Crimean Khanate
4. Sigismund Herberstein, Notes on Muscovy, Moscow 1988, p. 175
5. Yavornitsky D.I. History of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. Kyiv, 1990.
6. V. E. Syroechkovsky, Muhammad-Gerai and his vassals, “Scientific Notes of Moscow State University,” vol. 61, 1940, p. 16.
7. Vozgrin V. E. Historical destinies Crimean Tatars. Moscow, 1992.
8. Faizov S. F. Funeral “tysh” in the context of the relationship between Rus'-Russia with the Golden Horde and the Crimean yurt
9. Evliya Celebi. Travel Book, pp. 46-47.
10. Evliya Celebi. Travel Book, page 104.
11. Sanin O. G. Crimean Khanate in the Russian-Turkish War of 1710-11.
12. The news of the Christians' exit spread throughout Crimea... Christians opposed the exit no less than the Tatars. This is what the Evpatoria Greeks said when asked to leave Crimea: “We are pleased with his Lordship Khan and our homeland; We pay tribute to our sovereign from our ancestors, and even if they cut us down with sabers, we still won’t go anywhere.” The Armenian Christians, in a petition to the khan, said: “We are your servants... and subjects three hundred years ago, we lived in your Majesty’s state in pleasure and never saw any worries from you. Now they want to take us out of here. For the sake of God, the Prophet and your ancestors, we, your poor servants, ask to be delivered from such a misfortune, for which we will continually pray to God for you.” Of course, these petitions cannot be taken at face value, but they show that Christians did not come out of desire or fear. Meanwhile, Ignatius ... continued his tireless efforts in the matter of exit: he wrote letters of exhortation, sent priests and people devoted to exit to the villages, and generally tried to form a party of those who wanted to exit. The Russian government assisted him in this.
    F. Hartakhai Christianity in Crimea. / Memorable book of the Tauride province. - Simferopol, 1867. - Ss. 54-55.
13. Grigoriev V. Coins of the Dzhuchids, Genoese and Gireys, battles on the Tauride Peninsula and belonging to the society // ZOOID, 1844, vol. 1, p. 301, 307-314; Grigoriev V. Labels of Tokhtamysh and Seadet-Gerai // ZOOID, 1844, vol. 1, p. 337, 342.
14. V. D. Smirnov “The Crimean Khanate under the supremacy of the Ottoman Porte before the beginning XVIII centuries» St. Petersburg. 1887-89
15. Samoilovich A. N. Several amendments to the Timur-Kutlug label // Selected works about Crimea, 2000, p. 145-155.
16. Compare: Grigoriev V. Labels of Tokhtamysh and Seadet-Gerai // ZOOID, 1844, vol. 1, p. 337, 342 and Sami Ş. Kâmûs-ı Türkî, p. 1155.
17. See note. 13
18. von Hammer-Purgstall. Geschichte der Chan der Krim unter Osmanischer herrschaft. Wien, 1856.
19. Budagov L. Comparative dictionary of Turkish-Tatar dialects, T. 2, p. 120.
20. Sayyid Mohammed Riza. Asseb o-sseyar or Seven planets, containing the history of the Crimean khans..., Kazan, 1832; Hartakhai F. Historical fate of the Crimean Tatars // Bulletin of Europe, 1866, vol. 2, dep. 1, p. 182-236.

Literature

• Palace of the Crimean Khans in Bakhchisarai
• Dubrovin N. F. Annexation of Crimea to Russia, St. Petersburg: 1885
• Vozgrin V. E. Historical destinies of the Crimean Tatars. - M., 1992.
• Gaivoronsky O. “Constellation of Gerai. Brief biographies of the Crimean khans"
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Crimean Khanate Information About

Russia. In 1478, after an Ottoman military expedition, the Crimean Khanate became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. After the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774, under the terms of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace of 1774, Crimea became an independent state; Russia and the Ottoman Empire pledged not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Khanate and to withdraw their troops from there, while recognizing the spiritual authority of the Sultan as the head of the Muslims (caliph) over the Crimean Tatars. In 1783, the Russian Empire conquered the territory of the Crimean Khanate and a year later formed the Tauride region in the Crimean part of the occupied territories. The ownership of Crimea by the Russian Empire was finally recognized by the Ottoman Empire after the Russian-Turkish War of 1787-1791.

Capitals of the Khanate

The main city of the Crimean Yurt was the city of Kyrym, also known as Solkhat (modern Old Crimea), which became the capital of Khan Oran-Timur in 1266. According to the most common version, the name Kyrym comes from Chagatai qırım- pit, trench, there is also an opinion that it comes from the Western Kipchak qırım- “my hill” ( qır- hill, hill, -ım- affix of belonging to the first person singular).

When a state independent from the Horde was formed in Crimea, the capital was moved to the fortified mountain fortress of Kyrk-Era, then to Salachik, located in the valley at the foot of Kyrk-Era, and finally, in 1532, to the newly built city of Bakhchisarai.

Story

Background

The multinational population of Crimea then consisted mainly of Kypchaks (Cumans), Greeks, Goths, Alans, and Armenians living mainly in cities and mountain villages who lived in the steppe and foothills of the peninsula. The Crimean nobility was mainly of mixed Kipchak-Mongol origin.

Horde rule for the peoples inhabiting the present-day Crimean peninsula was generally painful. The rulers of the Golden Horde repeatedly organized punitive campaigns in Crimea when the local population refused to pay tribute. Nogai’s campaign in 1299 is known, as a result of which a number of Crimean cities suffered. As in other regions of the Horde, separatist tendencies soon began to appear in Crimea.

There are legends that in the 14th century Crimea was repeatedly ravaged by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd defeated the Tatar army in 1363 near the mouth of the Dnieper, and then invaded the Crimea, devastated Chersonesus and captured valuable church objects there. A similar legend exists about his successor named Vytautas, who in 1397 reached Kaffa in the Crimean campaign and again destroyed Chersonesus. Vytautas is also known in Crimean history for the fact that during the Horde unrest at the end of the 14th century, he provided refuge in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to a significant number of Tatars and Karaites, whose descendants now live in Lithuania and the Grodno region of Belarus. In 1399, Vitovt, who came to the aid of the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, was defeated on the banks of the Vorskla by Tokhtamysh’s rival Timur-Kutluk, on whose behalf the Horde was ruled by Emir Edigei, and made peace.

Gaining independence

Vassalage to the Ottoman Empire

Wars with the Russian Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early period

Since the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on the Russian Kingdom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Crimean Tatars and Nogai mastered the tactics of raids to perfection, choosing a path along watersheds. The main route to Moscow was the Muravsky Way, which ran from Perekop to Tula between the upper reaches of the rivers of two basins, the Dnieper and the Seversky Donets. Having gone 100-200 kilometers into the border region, the Tatars turned back and, spreading wide wings from the main detachment, engaged in robbery and the capture of slaves. The capture of captives - yasyr - and the trade in slaves were an important part of the economy of the Khanate. Captives were sold to Turkey, the Middle East and even European countries. The Crimean city of Kafa was the main slave market. According to some researchers [ ], more than three million people, mainly Ukrainians, Poles and Russians, were sold in the Crimean slave markets over two centuries. Every year, Moscow gathered up to 65 thousand warriors in the spring so that they would carry out border service on the banks of the Oka until late autumn. To protect the country, fortified defensive lines were used, consisting of a chain of forts and cities, ambushes and rubble. In the southeast, the oldest of these lines ran along the Oka from Nizhny Novgorod to Serpukhov, from here it turned south to Tula and continued to Kozelsk. The second line, built under Ivan the Terrible, ran from the city of Alatyr through Shatsk to Orel, continued to Novgorod-Seversky and turned to Putivl. Under Tsar Fedor, a third line arose, passing through the cities of Livny, Yelets, Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod. The initial population of these cities consisted of Cossacks, Streltsy and other service people. A large number of Cossacks and service people were part of the guard and village services, which monitored the movement of the Crimeans and Nogais in the steppe.

In Crimea itself, the Tatars left little yasyr. According to the ancient Crimean custom, slaves were released as freedmen after 5-6 years of captivity - there is a number of evidence from Russian and Polish documents about returnees from Perekop who “worked out”. Some of those released preferred to remain in Crimea. There is a well-known case described by the historian Dmitry Yavornitsky, when the ataman of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, Ivan Sirko, who attacked Crimea in 1675, captured huge booty, including about seven thousand Christian captives and freedmen. The ataman asked them whether they wanted to go with the Cossacks to their homeland or return to Crimea. Three thousand expressed a desire to stay, and Sirko ordered them to be killed. Those who changed their faith while in slavery were released immediately. According to Russian historian Valery Vozgrin, slavery in Crimea itself almost completely disappeared already in the 16th-17th centuries. Most of the prisoners captured during attacks on their northern neighbors (their peak intensity occurred in the 16th century) were sold to Turkey, where slave labor was widely used, mainly in galleys and in construction work.

XVII - early XVIII centuries

Prince V.M. Dolgorukov, who commanded the second Russian army, entered Crimea, defeated Khan Selim III in two battles and within a month captured the entire Crimea, and captured a Turkish seraskir in Kef. Bakhchisarai lay in ruins. Dolgorukov's army devastated Crimea. A number of villages were burned and civilians were killed. Khan Selim III fled to Istanbul. The Crimeans laid down their arms, bowed to the side of Russia and presented Dolgorukov with a letter of oath with the signatures of the Crimean nobility and notification of the election of Sahib II Geray to the khans, and his brother Shahin Geray to the kalgi.

The Crimean Khanate included the Crimean Peninsula itself and lands on the continent: the territories between the Dniester and the Dnieper, the Azov region and part of the Kuban.

Most of the lands outside the Crimea were sparsely populated steppes, over which cavalry could move, but where it would be difficult to build the fortresses required for constant monitoring occupied territories. Urban settlements were located in the Volga region and on the Crimean coast and were influenced by other khanates and the Ottoman Empire. All this significantly limited the growth of the economy and political influence of the Khanate.

The Crimean khans were interested in developing trade, which provided significant profits to the treasury. Among the goods exported from Crimea are raw leather, sheep's wool, morocco, sheep's fur coats, gray and black smushki. The slave trade and ransoms for those captured in the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Kingdom played a significant role. The main buyer of slaves was the Ottoman Empire.

• Bakhchisarai Kaimakanism
• Ak-Mechetsky kaymakanship
• Karasubazar kaymakanism
• Gezlevsky or Evpatoriya Kaimakanism
• Kafinsky or Feodosian kaymakanism
• Perekop Kaimakanism

Kaymakans consisted of 44 Kadylyks.

Army

Military activity was mandatory for both large and small feudal lords. The specifics of the military organization of the Crimean Tatars, which fundamentally distinguished it from the military affairs of other European peoples, aroused special interest among the latter. Carrying out the tasks of their governments, diplomats, merchants, and travelers sought not only to establish contacts with the khans, but also tried to familiarize themselves in detail with the organization of military affairs, and often their missions had the main goal of studying the military potential of the Crimean Khanate.

For a long time, there was no regular army in the Crimean Khanate, and all the men of the steppe and foothills of the peninsula who were able to bear arms actually took part in military campaigns. From an early age, Crimeans became accustomed to all the hardships and hardships of military life, learned to wield weapons, ride horses, and endure cold, hunger, and fatigue. The Khan, his sons, and individual beys carried out raids and got involved in hostilities with their neighbors mainly only when they were confident of a successful outcome. Intelligence played a major role in the military operations of the Crimean Tatars. Special scouts went ahead in advance, found out the situation, and then became guides for the advancing army. Using the factor of surprise, when it was possible to take the enemy by surprise, they often obtained relatively easy prey. But the Crimeans almost never acted independently against regular, numerically superior troops.

The Khan's Council established a norm in accordance with which the Khan's vassals were to supply warriors. Some of the residents remained to look after the property of those who went on a campaign. These same people were supposed to arm and support the soldiers, for which they received part of the military spoils. In addition to military service, the khan was paid sauga- a fifth, and sometimes most of the booty that the Murzas brought with them after the raids. The poor people who took part in these campaigns hoped that going for loot would allow them to get rid of everyday difficulties and make their existence easier, so they relatively willingly followed their feudal lord.

In military affairs, the Crimean Tatars can distinguish two types of marching organization - a military campaign, when the Crimean army led by a khan or kalga takes part in the hostilities of the warring parties, and a predatory raid - bash-bash(five-headed - a small Tatar detachment), which was often carried out by individual murzas and beys with relatively small military detachments in order to obtain booty and capture prisoners.

According to the descriptions of Guillaume de Beauplan and Marsiglia, the Crimeans were equipped quite simply - they used a light saddle,